PUBLISHED: OCTOBER 6, 2015

ICNL co-hosted the TechSoup NPTechChat on October 6 along with CIVICUS, FHI 360 and +SocialGood. This chat was a follow-up to the one hosted by TechSoup and CIVICUS last month on September 1. ICNL participated in the first chat and then took a more active role in facilitating the conversation by co-hosting the second round. This conversation took a deeper dive into some of the important and intriguing questions brought up during the initial September chat surrounding the challenges civil society organizations are facing and the best ways to combat closing space for civil society. The questions that were asked and debated by participants on Twitter during this chat included:

• What narratives do regimes use to justify restrictions? How can CS counter the narratives & increase public support?
• How can external actors help CSOs in closing spaces w/o increasing risks? When do risks outweigh benefits of external help?
• Why isn’t there better civil society coordination to counter closing spaces? What are the impediments?
• How do we strengthen CSO coordination and engagement in-country and across borders? What are successful examples?
• How can existing social movements be supported and strengthened, particularly indigenous organizations?